Online Reality
by sheneya
Summary: CSI's find more than they bargained for and a long kept secret when what seems to be a Home Invasion turned deadly reveals a dark world of Adult Online Reality TV, Secret Cameras and hidden relationships.
1. Chapter 1

Horatio tried to keep his grip gentle as he held the younger man.

It had been a simple home invasion gone wrong when they had first gotten the call but the evidence had brought up more and more questions instead of the easy answers they had expected.

A hidden world of adult online reality shows, secret cameras and now what seemed to be cyber-stalking of his CSI's… Because he knew without a doubt that the man whose arms he still had pinned, who was still, almost eerily, silent as he struggled to hide away from everything would never have signed up for… this.

Horatio had been the only one to move, everyone else was still shocked and silent, staring at the video had been playing… been playing, an ad must have popped up while the redhead was busy wrangling his CSI.

"What a terrible way to be found out." He thought as the person still in his arms finally stopped struggling to get out of them.

"What a terrible way to find out." Was his second thought, honestly he should be angrier that it had been kept a secret for so long… kept from HIM for so long.

But the silent struggling had been replaced by soft, terrified, animal-like panting, interspersed with the saddest cry he'd ever heard in his entire career and he couldn't bring that anger to the surface.

Online adult reality TV using hidden cameras, emphasis on adult and hidden.

Sure it was a backlog, video archived from years ago… that anyone could watch… with enough patience for ads… or a premium account.

A full-screen version of Ryan Wolfe, wanton, panting, begging and splayed out… Beneath the now long dead Timothy Speedle.

"...Ryan."

All he got was a sharp wail, almost brutally uttered, as though Ryan's self-control was being run over barbed wire. Perhaps he should have stuck with 'Mr Wolfe', but it seemed too distant at this point.

Not that it mattered, he'd get nothing from the younger man in this state.

But he knew… Neither Wolfe nor Speed would ever have signed up to be watched like this, which meant, at least for now, Ryan was suddenly on their suspect list.

But he wasn't the only person on it, if neither Speed nor Ryan would have signed up for the "Show", how many others were on it without their knowledge or permission. And had any of them found out?

They had an entire backlog to go through.

"Eric… go through the videos with Calleigh… see who else was filmed and cross check it with people living in or visiting Miami… Jesse, Walter, run the data, see who else was running this… site, I doubt it was a one man operation."

His team finally seemed to pull out of their haze and notice he had his hands full. His glare dared them to say anything to the man he was holding.

They didn't.

But he knew questions would come later, along with remorse, some misplaced some not, he thought, remembering how unkind they all were when Wolfe first joined the crime lab, and accusations.

Honestly, Horatio probably knew why Ryan had kept such a big secret, and for so long. At first, Ryan would have felt that using his relationship with Speedle at the crime was somehow cheating, that it was just like using a corpse as a stepping stone.

Then… well, they'd slowly started to accept him… too damn slowly… Bringing it up years later, would have just felt cruel and pointless for everyone.

But now it had been brought up, in the worst way Horatio had never considered.

In all it's High-Definition, Pornographic glory.


	2. Chapter 2

Eric groaned as soon as he figured Horatio and Ryan were out of earshot, The redhead had practically needed to carry the younger man away from them.

"I… didn't know Ryan was gay." Walter sounded more curious than anything else, which Eric was grateful for.

"He's dated women as well, so I'd guess more bisexual than anything." Neither did Jesse.

"The personal stuff can wait guys, besides, we need to figure out who murdered our vic first, we can all talk to Ryan later." Calleigh was being her usual self, but Eric knew she was, at least partially, lying through her teeth. She didn't want it to wait, neither did Eric for that matter. However it made The other two men nod and head off to do their own job, leaving Eric and Calleigh to pick up where the video had paused.

Horatio had said to look for others, but they both knew they still needed to at least skim through Ryan's "Series". How long had the cameras been there?… were they STILL there?... And if so, where were they? They both believed in Ryan's innocence, but they still had to prove, beyond doubt, that he'd had no idea the cameras were there to help prove it.

And Eric knew Calleigh wanted the same thing he did… to get through it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Resolute, they plugged in the lab's program, the one they used to override pay walls and ads when they needed to work through internet programs and clicked on the first RW3/39 listed episode.

A quick skim through it showed It was literally an entire episode just of Ryan moving into his new flat. Already they had their first clue about the case. The cameras had been installed before Ryan had arrived.

Eric clicked and skimmed through to the next few "episodes". "No Speed yet." he mused while Calleigh ran the episode link titles through another computer.

"Eric.." He was pulled from his thoughts as Calleigh handed him the results she'd just printed from her computer.

"AB3/39… CW3/39… FS3/39...RW3/39… Apartment 3… building 39… looks like Ryan's address."

She shook her head in disbelief. "And I think, they all lived there at one point or another, at least for this set of videos … Ryan once mentioned the woman who had moved out of his place before he moved in. Allison Barnes. And she spoke to him a little about the tenant before her… Frank Sternell. I'll have to confirm someone with C W in their initials, but it fits."

"Alright, you do that, I'll keep going through these videos."

She nodded and walked out the door, a little too quickly Eric felt. Still, he couldn't blame her, it was still awkward.

He sighed before clicking over to the next video.

13 videos later of Ryan going about his daily routine, eating, sleeping, Eric tried really hard not to think about the times in the shower, whether Ryan was… pleasuring himself or not, it felt invasive… well, more invasive than the rest of this endeavour, with no sign he'd even looked in the direction of the probably tiny cameras. All he'd found out was that every single room in Wolfe's house had one hidden somewhere.

Eric sat up a little straighter about halfway through 14th video. Ryan was setting two plates up for dinner, and while he couldn't tell for sure without the smell, the food he was cooking looked a lot like something Eric knew Speed used to enjoy eating when they had time for a meal.

Like his thoughts had summoned the man, the sound of a doorbell ringing came through the speakers, followed by Ryan hurrying out of the room, the scene jumped to him opening the door to reveal Eric's the sheepish looking face of the man who used to be Eric's best friend.

At the moment, he was doubting that, why hadn't Speedle told him about this? About Ryan? Oh, he knew why Ryan hadn't, why he couldn't, his stomach twisted as he once again remembered some of his attitude when Ryan had first arrived. He wouldn't have told him either. But Speed, Speed had told him almost everything, why not this?

Then again, he thought as he watched the rest of dinner play out, maybe this was different. It was clear this wasn't some extended one night stand like a small part of Eric had secretly hoped. This was a date, and the start of a relationship.

On any other person's face Eric would have considered Speedle's expression sappy. The man was obviously as in love as a human being could get.

He still needed to get through the videos as quickly as possible, and this definitely wasn't their first date, just the first time Ryan had him over, so he skimmed through the evening meal... and whatever show they were sitting on the couch to watch... and the trip to the shower… then the bedroom… He didn't remember noticing those scratch marks running along Speed's back and into his scalp that week, before clicking through to the next episode.

After that Speedle appeared at least once every couple of videos, sometimes he brought dinner, sometimes Ryan cooked. Sometimes they made love, sometimes they just lay on the bed and slept. A couple of times Ryan stroked Speedle's hair as the stress of being a CSI caught up to him and he caved and wept. One time, Speed returned the favour. Eric vaguely remembered that day, an Officer had been killed while drink driving. A quick, off the record check revealed he'd been Ryan's senior and a regular patrol partner for the younger man. The man had been reported multiple times for drinking while on duty, by more than one officer, but it still must have hurt.

Still Nothing that would help the current case, aside from timestamps and other basic data. So Eric resolutely ignored the voice in his head that wondered how long they'd actually been dating, before Speed had first come over, wondered if Speed would have ever told him, if he hadn't died would Eric have eventually known about Ryan? Was Ryan still that flexible?

He slammed his hand down on the keyboard to pause the video currently playing as the last thought fully registered in his mind. "No, absolutely not." Ryan was stressed out, distraught and had just had his entire, PRIVATE life thrown out in front of what probably felt like the whole world, the last thing he needed was Eric suddenly discovering his own attraction in the worst possible way.

He looked up at the sound of Calleigh clearing her throat behind him. "I was right about the apartment, so I ran the other numbers through as well, all of them are local apartments, and… all of them are rented out through the same agency."

"We need to talk to the people who run it."

"Horatio already sent Jesse and Walter, they hit a dead end on the site data and had to hand it over to the lab expert so they were free anyways. Why don't you go take a break as well, you've been at this for a couple of hours."

Eric would have protested, but for all her gentle charm, he knew when not to ignore her, this was one of those times.

"Go on, I'll take over from here, you go grab a coffee and something to eat." He nodded at her suggestion and made his way out the door.

A quick glance into the interogg… interview room told him H had managed to at least calm Ryan down enough for Frank to talk to him, although the bald detective was being uncharacteristically gentle with the youngest.

As much as he wanted to stop and go in, he had no evidence to give them, so he just gave Ryan what he hoped was an encouraging smile as he made his way to the break room.

The slight tremor of Ryan's lips could have been an attempt to smile back… or an attempt to hold back tears, Eric couldn't tell, but at least the younger man didn't look like he had completely fallen apart.


	3. Chapter 3

Calleigh sighed to herself as Eric finally made his way out to the break room before making her way over to the video that was currently paused on Speedle's face, it was near its end so she used the time to settle into the seat Eric had just vacated.

She'd gone into the interview room where Frank and Horatio where currently talking with Ryan to drop off a copy of the info she'd found, Ryan seemed to have calmed down a little as he didn't do more than flinch as Horatio called in Jesse and Walter. After confirming they had hit a roadblock for now, H had sent them to talk with the company before taking turning back to Ryan.

Ryan managed to almost throw a gentle smile in her direction, before it fell again as she mentioned going back to the… videos, he didn't fall apart over it though, so she took that as a bonus.

The other copy she carried into the AV Lab that held Eric, after quickly running the information by him and letting him know that Jesse and Walter were looking into it, she had quickly ushered him out. He'd looked much tireder than he really should have been but she couldn't blame him for it, their entire world had been spun on its head a few hours ago, and while she'd been reeling when it first hit, being able to move away from the screens for a little while had helped, she wasn't constantly seeing Ryan in his full "glory" like Eric had been which gave her time to clear her head.

However, even though her head was clearer, she still wasn't feeling completely ready for what she knew she'd see. Still, she hit play.

Speedle's face faded off the screen, then there was a few moments of blankness before the next video started.

Like Eric, she didn't let the videos just play, she skimmed through them looking for anything out of the ordinary. Also like Eric, she found no evidence that Ryan was finding cameras, Sometimes… it almost looked like he was seeing something, but it quickly became clear each time that he'd simply, look in the direction the camera was in without seeing it.

Just how small were these electronic invaders of his privacy?

Suddenly she paused the video she was on. She stared at the timestamp, then at the date, she knew that date, they all knew it… the day they'd realised they could lose anyone.

As if the fact that she didn't want to see this alone, Eric walked in the door. She heard is quiet intake of breath, probably to ask her why she'd paused the video, his question never came, the sudden sharper inhale cut it off when he saw what she'd seen. Instead, he lay a gentle hand on her shoulder.

It bolstered her confidence as she took a deep breath and hit play.

Speedle was at Ryan's place again. In the previous video he'd stayed for the night. For quite a passionate night. As the slight hitch in Ryan's step as he set up for breakfast confirmed.

They focused hard on Ryan's movements, on the sounds he made, probably too hard, but it was easier than looking at the date on the screen.

He was in the middle of frying eggs when Speedle walked out the door.

"You have the day off love, you should be asleep." The sound of Speed's voice filtered through the speakers, soft and sleep-roughened. They hadn't really heard it much beforehand, even though he was in the videos, too busy using the fast forward function, looking for evidence, the sound didn't work when they did that.

"And let you skip breakfast? You would given half a chance." Ryan knew Speed so damn well.

"Alright alright." Speed took the opportunity to scratch his stubble against Ryan's neck, making the younger man giggle, before stealing a kiss and going into the cupboard for condiments.

"I'm assuming you've already put tomato sauce down on the shopping list… bottle's nearly empty."

"Yes." Ryan replied to Speed's question as he put the huge plates of what seemed to be eggs, pancakes and sausages.

"If work isn't too hectic, I'll try and meet you at the store, help you carry stuff home."

He paused in his eating as his pager went off. "...Maybe… A yacht just crashed into a bridge."

Ryan nodded as he watched Speed quickly polish off his food while texting… probably Horatio... to let him know he'd be there soon.

Breakfast finished, he was back into the bedroom, where spare clothes had slowly been accumulating over the last few months, he dressed himself and was out again in record time.

"Teeth?" He gently glared at Ryan before heading back in, this time towards the bathroom.

"I'm not three you know."

Ryan ignored him and finished his own breakfast while Speed cleaned his teeth. He was putting the plates away when Speedle rushed back out, pressed a soft kiss against his lips and rushed out the door.

The next part the "Show" cut to nearly broke Calleigh's heart. There were no tears, Ryan wasn't crying, he was just curled up in his bed, almost painfully tight as he clung to the sleeping shirt Speed had been wearing that morning.

But they knew Speed wouldn't be coming back, so did Ryan.

It wasn't until the fast forwarded to the next day that they finally saw Ryan cry. He'd just finished setting up two plates for breakfast and was standing there, staring at the nearly empty tomato sauce bottle… he hadn't made it out to the shop when the news of Speed's death broke.

It was hard to watch as he seemed to fold in on himself, cuddling a nearly empty bottle as he slid down the front of his counter and great, heaving sobs seemed to shake his entire body.

For a few moments both her and Eric wished they could somehow reach back in time to comfort him, hell, if they could reach back in time, Speed would still be alive, Ryan wouldn't have needed comforting… and maybe Speedle would have introduced them all to Ryan.

They paused the video for a few moments again to give themselves time to process things. But in the end, Maybes didn't amount to much and they still needed to finish going through the evidence.

By the end of Ryan's Episodes, they knew three things, one Ryan definitely had no clue he was being filmed, two, he was still in that apartment, the last video of him was from less than three days ago, and three, exactly where all the cameras were.

Calleigh watched as Eric wrote down a fourth note, although not on the official paperwork.

Find Ryan a place to stay. He quickly scribbled it out.

Invite Ryan to stay.

He paused for a few seconds, before adding on. Unless H has already offered.

She understood. Bringing up why Ryan hadn't or couldn't tell them that he knew Speed… loved Speed would just be painful for all of them. Eventually, now that they knew, he might open up, might tell them a little bit… over time.

But for now only one thing was guaranteed.'

There was no way in hell Ryan would want to go back to his bugged apartment right now. He may never want to go back at all.

What better way to start things anew, than letting him know he was safe with them, that he had a place to go.


End file.
